Following their Week 11 bye, the Colts remain at the top of the AFC South with an 8-2 record but have a challenging and important remainder of the season ahead of them; four of the Colts' remaining seven regular season games are against AFC South opponents, with two games against both the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In Week 11, the Jaguars improved to 6-4 after their blowout 35-6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers and the Texans moved to 5-5 with their 16-13 win over the Tennessee Titans (the Titans dropped to 1-9). The Jaguars and the Texans are both vying for spots in the playoffs, and their upcoming matchups against the Colts could prove instrumental in securing – or losing – those positions.
The Colts will play the Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Week 13 and the Jaguars at EverBank Stadium in Week 14; they will then host the Jaguars in Week 17 and travel to NRG Stadium to close out the regular season against the Texans in Week 18.
Jaguars make statement with win over Chargers
In Week 10, the Jaguars collapsed in the fourth quarter and gave up 26 points to the Texans – and they weren't about to do that again. So, in their game against the Chargers on Sunday, they instead opted to slowly squeeze the life out of their opposition by scoring five touchdowns, dominating time of possession and holding the Chargers to just two field goals in the 35-6 win.
Halftime saw the Chargers down just 14-7, with the game still very much in reach, but the second half was when the Jaguars truly locked in. The Chargers failed to reach the red zone on any of their four second-half possessions, giving up a costly interception that resulted in a Jaguars touchdown and turning the ball over twice on downs. The Jaguars, on the other hand, scored three consecutive touchdowns – and one of their touchdown drives took over nine minutes off the clock. The Jaguars' defense also allowed just 35 total yards and two first downs in the second half.
"They knew we needed to respond," head coach Liam Coen said after the game. "That's really what it came down to. When you have guys out there playing for each other, playing for the greater cause with a team-first mentality...that's what it was. I was really proud of them."
The Jaguars' run game dominated, recording 192 rushing yards and four touchdowns; Bhayshul Tuten and Travis Etienne combined for 147 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence finished the game 14-of-22 for 153 yards and one touchdown, with one interception. He also recorded a rushing touchdown.
As a whole, the Jaguars put up 345 total net yards to the Chargers' 135 and held Justin Herbert to 10-of-18 for 82 yards with two sacks and an interception.
"I think guys understood how important this game was today as far as just our team and where we're at and it's a game you got to win," Lawrence said. "You're playing a good AFC team, getting into November, later in the season, you start to look at your schedule and the games and you're starting to run out of opportunities. I think for all of us, we know how important this game was after we gave one away last week in Houston, obviously, and it was a great way to bounce back for us. Complementary football, offense, defense, special teams, everyone pitched in. We fed off one another, the energy, the momentum. It was a fun day."
The Jaguars will play the Arizona Cardinals in Week 12.
Backup QB Davis Mills leads Texans to another win
Once again, it came down to crunch time in the fourth quarter for the Texans if they wanted to win against an AFC South opponent. And once again, they figured out a way.
The first half of their game against the Titans was a defensive battle, with the Titans holding a 3-0 lead at halftime. Both teams' offenses woke up in the second half to trade scoring drives, and the Titans rallied to string together a 95-yard touchdown drive to tie the game 13-13 with under two minutes remaining.
All eyes then turned to Texans backup quarterback Davis Mills – playing for the second consecutive game with C.J. Stroud still in concussion protocol – to lead a last-minute drive.
After taking a sack and throwing an incompletion, Mills connected with wide receiver Nico Collins for a crucial 17-yard gain, and a few more runs by running back Woody Marks set up kicker Matthew Wright to make the game-winning kick.
"I'm just proud of the way we're finishing," head coach DeMeco Ryans said. "We weren't finishing games really good to start the season, but how we're finishing games now and finishing with a win, that's all that matters. I'm proud of our guys for that."
Collins finished with nine receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown, becoming the first player this season to record three consecutive games with at least seven receptions and 50-plus receiving yards. Mills was 26-of-41 for 274 yards and a touchdown; he was sacked four times.
Defensively, the Texans stood strong as they have many times this season, allowing the Titans to reach the red zone just once and giving up just 58 rushing yards. It is worth noting, though, that the Texans' ground game was also quite inconsistent; they recorded just 75 rushing yards on 23 carries (3.3 yards/attempt). But a win is a win, and the Texans have squeezed out two of them even as their starting quarterback watches from the sidelines.
"It's team football, and that's what we're about," Ryans said when asked about winning without Stroud. "My number one rule is it's a team-first mentality. Everything that we do is never about one guy. It's going to be collective, collectively coaches, players, staff, everybody working together."
The Texans next play the Buffalo Bills at NRG Stadium on Thursday night.
